ABSTRACT
Inevitably with public attention concentrated upon leading figures, composers of the second rank, neglected in their lifetime, are often forgotten after their death. Elie Siegmeister became widely known for his research into early American music and as a collector and arranger of folk-songs. He was also a founder of the American Composers’ Alliance in 1938 and served on numerous committees promoting American music. Adopting classical forms, he used original thematic material with strong American characteristics. A pupil of Bernard Rogers and Howard Hanson, he is a typical product of the Hanson regime, relatively conservative in style and strongly influenced by American folk-song and jazz. Scored for narrator, soprano, baritone, choir and orchestra, the work traces the development of the American spirit through two centuries. All the music of Don Gillis is unashamedly in a popular American style as the titles suggest.
